“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
–Matthew 7:21-23
If you were to go to most self-proclaimed Christians and ask them what they think about hell, you’d likely get a very mixed response. Some would, completely contrary to the Bible, deny it even exists. But a larger portion, I believe, would say hell exists as a place for all the bad people: murderers, child molesters, abortionists… those people.
Well, they’d be partially right in saying that hell is a place for bad people. But where they’d miss the mark is by saying that only the worst of the worst in our society are ‘bad’ by God’s standards. The truth is that every one of us deserves hell, apart from God’s grace, because we’ve all sinned.
The Day of Judgment is going to be a sad day for so many who thought they were good enough – volunteered at church enough, gave enough money, or were nice enough – and then they realize they missed the boat because they never received the transforming power of Jesus into their lives.
Today’s passage is a frightening one, but it gives clear warning against thinking you’re good enough to make it to heaven on your own. So let Jesus in your life to begin transforming how you live. That kind of repentance is what marks a true believer in Christ.
BE CERTAIN YOU’LL BE IN HEAVEN BY REPENTING AUTHENTICALLY AND HAVING REAL FAITH IN CHRIST FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS.
